APNewsBreak: Bison in US West head to reservation

By MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press
| 6:12 p.m.March 19, 2012

FILE - in this March 17, 2011, file photo, a free bison roams around the outside of a pen enclosing bison in Gardiner, Mont., in Yellowstone National Park. Late Monday afternoon, March 19, 2012, 64 bison from Yellowstone National Park were due to arrive at northeast Montana’s Fort Peck Reservation under a long-stalled relocation initiative to repopulate parts of the West with the iconic, genetically pure animals, a tribal official said. Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Monday the bison shipment was a first step in efforts to bring the animals back across a larger landscape. (AP Photo/Janie Osborne, File)
— AP

FILE - in this March 17, 2011, file photo, a free bison roams around the outside of a pen enclosing bison in Gardiner, Mont., in Yellowstone National Park. Late Monday afternoon, March 19, 2012, 64 bison from Yellowstone National Park were due to arrive at northeast Montana’s Fort Peck Reservation under a long-stalled relocation initiative to repopulate parts of the West with the iconic, genetically pure animals, a tribal official said. Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Monday the bison shipment was a first step in efforts to bring the animals back across a larger landscape. (AP Photo/Janie Osborne, File)
/ AP

BILLINGS, Montana 
Sixty-four bison from Yellowstone National Park were being shipped almost 500 miles (804 kilometers) to northeast Montana's Fort Peck Reservation on Monday, under a long-stalled relocation initiative meant to repopulate parts of the West with the iconic animals.

The transfer - anticipated for months - came in the middle of a snowstorm and with no prior public announcement, as state and tribal officials sought to avoid a courtroom battle with opponents worried about bison - also known as buffalo - competing with cattle for grazing space.

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer described the move as a major step in efforts to restore Yellowstone's genetically-pure bison across a larger landscape.

"This is where we're going to establish the beachhead of genetically pure bison that will be available as their numbers grow to go to other reservations and other public lands all across the West," Schweitzer said.

Tribal and state officials signed an agreement Friday allowing the transfer to take place, said Robert Magnan with the Fort Peck Fish and Game Department.

Caught off guard were landowners and property rights groups that opposed the relocation. They filed a request for a temporary restraining order Monday afternoon to halt the move.

Helena attorney Cory Swanson said moving the animals without public notice following years of controversy amounted to a "sneak attack."

After state district Judge John McKeon in Glasgow did not rule on the request by the close of business Monday, Swanson said he would return Tuesday with a request for the animals to be ordered back to the Yellowstone area.

For the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes of Fort Peck, tribal leaders said the relocation offers a chance to revive their connection with an animal that historically provided food, clothing and shelter for their ancestors.

Most bison, also known as buffalo, are hybrids that have been interbred with cattle. Yellowstone's animals are said to represent one of the world's last remaining reservoirs of pure bison genetics.